‘Business Model’ Thinking Is Outdated—and Wrong

Denis P. Doyle’s Commentary “Why
Markets Are Important (and What They
Could Do for Public Education)”(Jan. 16,
2008) could have been written as part of a
State of the Union address for President
Ronald Reagan. This “business model” idea
has been the conservative focus for education
since the 1980s (and probably longer). I feel,
however, that the philosophy of classic
capitalist theory, applied to the public-sector
institution of education, is not as neat a fit as
this argument always seems to make it.

For years, we have seen what kinds of
compromises and shortcuts are taken when
the bottom line becomes the primary
motivational force of an institution. Whether
that bottom line is a test score or a profit
margin, the motivation to leave behind those
who cannot perform and those who cannot
pay often outweighs the compulsion to do
what is morally correct.

The business model superimposed on
education has brought us an era in which we
test kids more often than we teach them, we
work hard to undermine teaching as a
profession by demonizing unions in hopes of
breaking them, and we offer federal grants
only to those private-sector publishers who
contribute to the campaign fund.

For my ever-shrinking piece of the public-sector
pie, I’ll take a model different from the
one that brings us closer to the current state
of the private sector in this country. Last
time I checked, the business model wasn’t
even doing well for businesses.

G. Putnam Goodwin-Boyd

Florence, Mass.

Vol. 27, Issue 22, Page 28

Published in Print: February 6, 2008, as ‘Business Model’ Thinking Is Outdated—and Wrong